Method Acting
by The Cheshire Cheese
Summary: Tag to "Investigations." Chakotay fumes over the way Tom, Janeway, and Tuvok used him as a pawn in their plot to catch Jonas. Tom tries to apologize personally. A pile of pent-up history makes forgiveness difficult. (Light slash)


**A/N: Warning: if you don't like Paris/Chakotay slash then…well…you don't exist. **_**Everybody**_** loves some flyboy-on-Maquis. Enjoy! **

"_I know that I've been acting like a jerk for the last couple of months. Unfortunately, I had to behave that way if the spy was going to believe that I really wanted to leave the ship. So, I'd like to apologize to anyone that I might have offended... especially Commander Chakotay, I gave him a pretty hard time. Not that it wasn't a certain amount of fun, mind you._"

Tom leaned back on his sofa, munching his cereal, as the wall panel playing the clip went black. Tom had issued the public apology to the entire crew just the night before, via "A Briefing with Neelix." Afterwards, Tom had gone to Sandrine's on the holodeck, and stayed up well past midnight, playing pool and drinking with several fellow shipmates. The captain and Tuvok had been there for the first few hours, but left early. Harry stayed until Tom was ready to go. B'Elanna had been there for a while. Kes and Neelix dropped in, to welcome Tom back to the ship. Even the Doctor had his program transferred to the holodeck to join in, and tell Tom that he wasn't _quite_ as unscrupulous as he'd initially thought. Chakotay however had been absent the entire time.

Tom had today off. He'd planned to spend some time with his shipmates, and issue a few more personal apologies to the way he'd treated them during his ruse. One of them would have to be Chakotay. Tom had no idea what the commander's reaction to his public apology had been. He hoped Chakotay would be relieved, maybe a little proud of Tom, for putting himself in such bad light to serve the crew. It was one of the first times Tom had felt he'd done something truly noble, and selfless.

Or had he? A lot of parts of his performance had been his ideas, and he wasn't so sure, now, that he'd chosen to harass Chakotay purely for innocent reasons.

Shaking the thoughts away, Tom put on his uniform, and ventured into the hallways, greeting fellow shipmates. He didn't stay to talk long to any of them. He moved through the corridors, until he found Chakotay on his way to the bridge.

"Hey, Ch—Commander."

Chakotay glanced over his shoulder. His expression was unreadable.

"Hey," Tom caught up to him. "You got a minute?"

"Actually, no. I'm going to be late for duty." Chakotay turned.

"I just want to apologize."

"You already did."

_Damn it_. Chakotay's voice was often as monotone as a Vulcan's, making his emotions impossible to read.

Before Tom could get another word in, Chakotay hurried into the turbo lift and shut it in Tom's face, determinably not looking at him.

Tom waited until the end of the day, when the senior officers would be getting off duty, and then made his way back towards the bridge. As Tom was rounding a corner, he suddenly heard Chakotay's raised voice.

"I _pledged_ my loyalty to Starfleet once, they thanked me by allowing the Cardassians to kill my father and massacre my home. But I set that aside and put on this uniform, to help _you_ integrate our two crews. And you thank me by pulling a prank on me for two months?"

"_You were emotionally involved Chakotay_. You're proving it to me right now—"

Chakotay gave a short laugh. "But _you're_ not emotionally involved, _Captain_, you're only 75,000 light-years from home with a fiancé who might not wait, and a crew to worry about. But _I'm_ emotionally involved…how again?" he didn't wait for her to answer. "If you need someone to be emotionally dethatched to trust them, why not just make Tuvok your first officer? No, that's right, you need a token _Maquis_ in the seat next to you—"

Tom dared a peek around the corner. He saw Janeway grabbed Chakotay's arms, fixing her eyes on his, like she was about to say something sincere and important. Chakotay threw up his hands, throwing hers off him.

"I'm not talking now Captain. Let's wait till a time when I'm less _emotionally compromised_."

Tom froze, as Chakotay stormed passed him. Tom glanced back around the corner. The captain stood with her hand on her hip, watching her first officer go. Her eyes caught Tom. She blinked, in a way that might replace a sigh, and strode over to Tom.

Tom looked down. "Guess he took it a little harder than I thought he would."

"I thought being a former Maquis would've made it _easier_ for him to understand," Janeway said quietly. "He had to carry out missions for the Maquis without being given all the information. When Tuvok and I told him that you didn't mean any of it, and were trying to help us defeat Seska, I thought that would've made him feel _better_ about the whole situation."

Tom swallowed. "This is my fault Captain. I thought I could read Chakotay pretty well, but I…"

Janeway shook her head. "Don't, Tom. Give him time. I'm sure by the end of the…" seeing Tom's expression, Janeway moved her head, looking carefully at him. "Tom?"

"Captain, I…" Tom jumped inwardly, as Harry and Ensign Jenkins (one of the backup pilots) came down the hall.

"Let's continue in my Ready Room." Janeway suggested.

They gave an acknowledging nod to Harry and Jenkins, as they crossed to the Ready Room. Once the doors were sealed, they turned to face each other.

"Captain, there's something I probably should've told you about me and Chakotay."

Janeway stared up at him, under furrowed eyebrows. She looked like she knew what he was going to say, but couldn't quite believe it. "…Yes?"

"In the Maquis, Chakotay and I…we weren't…platonic."

Janeway blinked slowly. "I thought _Seska_ was his…"

"She was, for a time. They broke it off…a week or two after I joined."

Janeway nodded slowly.

Tom went on. "So, Seska betrayed him, me and Tuvok betrayed him, and now, me, Tuvok, and you…"

Janeway's hand came up to her mouth, rubbing fretfully. She turned away for a moment, thinking her response over. Finally she turned back and fired, "Why the _hell_ didn't you say something two months ago?"

"I…I didn't think…"

"_That's_ obvious, Paris."

Tom's gaze returned to the floor. "I knew we should've went with B'Elanna."

Janeway shook her head. "B'Elanna's reaction would've jeopardized her position as Chief Engineer, not to mention your life." Tom wasn't sure if she was joking or not. "And we all know now that provoking Neelix would've been a very bad idea…"

Tom remembered how Neelix had grabbed his throat, and threatened to kill him, after witnessing Tom's attraction to Kes.

Tom swung his arms. "I wish I could just take Chakotay out to dinner and give him a real apology, but there's no way he'd let me, in this mood."

"I suppose I could arrange an away mission for you two."

Tom laughed. "Can you also arrange a body guard for me? Have you seen Chakotay throw a punch, Captain?"

"I heard about what he did to Crewman Dalby that one time…" Janeway muttered.

The captain was quiet for a few moments, lost in thought. She looked distressed, as she no doubt searched for a way to heal her first officers' wounded pride, without letting him kill her con officer.

Hang on—

"Captain I've got an idea."

* * *

Chakotay really wished he'd installed a punching bag in his quarters; both holodecks were in use at the moment, so punching out his rage wasn't an option. If he weren't the first officer, he might swagger into Sandrine's and start a bar fight with someone.

He considered a vision quest, and almost gave it a shot. But he never got past "Achoochy…" His prayer rock wound up flying across the room and hitting his dream catcher on the wall, making it swing back and forth a few times. That was a pitch B'Elanna would've been proud of. Chakotay remembered how she'd tossed some tool or another at him, when he'd stepped into her quarters while she was in a mood…

This was embarrassing, the loss of control over his emotions. He often envied Tuvok for that. Did the Vulcan have private fits, behind the closed doors of his quarters, when no one was watching? Or were those people bottled up 24/7?

"_Pairs to Chakotay_."

He was tempted to ignore it, but that was something a pouty adolescent would do. As professionally as he could, Chakotay replied, "What is it Lieutenant?"

"_I've got Holodeck 2 for a few hours. I was hoping you could join me." _

Since this obviously wasn't a professional call, Chakotay allowed his resentment to show. "Will this involve gambling at Sandrine's?"

"_Not at Sandrine's_. _But I understand bets are kind of a tradition in your favorite sport._ "

Chakotay let his mouth hang partially opened, as he debated whether to respond with a smile or a snappy retort. He decided both. "You've already done your duty to the ship, Paris. Offering yourself up as a sacrificial punching bag isn't necessary."

"_Who said I was doing it for you, Chief? After that brush with the Kazon, I just wanna improve my fighting skills. I barely got off Seska's ship alive." _

Tom was deliberately goading Chakotay on. Chakotay wasn't sure this wasn't some kind of trick, to get him to hurt Tom so seriously that the Captain would reprimand him.

"I'm too tired Tom. Why don't you ask Neelix? Bring Kes along to cheerlead, find which one of you she'd actually root for."

"_In that case," _Tom said in that insufferably smooth voice he used, when trying to provoke someone. "_I'll have to tell the Captain you're still too emotionally compromised to be in a room with me. She's offered to let Tuvok take you through some meditations._"

Come to think of it, what could Janeway do? She'd already overlooked Chakotay's criminal record, in order to have her token Maquis in the first officer's seat. Giving her pilot a concussion probably wouldn't change anything.

"Give me five minutes Tom."

* * *

Chakotay stood over the biobed, hands on his hips, while the Doctor treated an unconscious Tom.

Tom and Chakotay had gone half a round in the boxing program, before the holographic referee declared Tom's unconscious body unfit to defend itself, and called it a match. Both men still wore their trunks (Tom's blue and Chakotay's red), hand wraps, and no shirts. The Doctor didn't look at Chakotay, as he healed Tom's broken jaw. The two black eyes and shattered nose would have to wait until the really serious injuries were healed. Chakotay didn't want to feel guilty, but seeing Tom lying on that bed, so bloody and dented, and knowing he was responsible for it and had _enjoyed_ doing it—

"He'll live." The Doctor sighed. "I've said it before; Mr. Pairs is too stubborn to die. He'll probably regain consciousness in a few minutes."

Chakotay licked his lips. "I didn't mean to do quite that much damage."

"That barbaric program shouldn't even be in our database." The Doctor snarled. "People have been killed in that sport."

"Not in the last century," Chakotay defended.

"Suffered permanent brain damage,"

"Come on, Doc."

"…had ears bitten off…"

Tom blinked one black eye opened. "If you're referring to Mike Tyson, he didn't eat the whole thing."

"Oh, well, that changes everything." The Doctor moved on to heal Tom's nose.

"Who won?" Tom laughed weakly.

Chakotay just stared at him.

"I lost? Guess that means I have to take you out to dinner."

The conditions of their match had been the loser treating the winner to a date. Chakotay had known from the start that Tom had planned to lose, and had assured himself that he would _not_ be having dinner with Tom tonight. Unfortunately, he'd underestimated how guilty Tom could make him feel.

The Doctor said callously, "Sounds like a happy, dysfunctional relationship. You two could give Neelix and Kes a run for their money."

The Doctor had no idea how close his words were to being true. As far as the hologram knew, Chakotay and Paris were nothing more than colleagues with some animosity towards each other.

"Hey," Tom croaked, "Where is Kes anyway?"

"Off-duty. Her shift doesn't normally run this late. If it were an emergency I'd call her of course. But if I pulled Kes out of bed _every_ time someone got themselves mauled in an idiotic holoprogram…"

They allowed the Doc to rant and insult them some more, until Tom's injuries were fully healed. Once they were, Tom slid off the bed, and left with Chakotay.

"I still have the holodeck for another hour and a half," Tom said. "Meet me there in ten minutes?"

His rage safely gone, Chakotay replied calmly, "How should I dress?"

"I like what you're wearing right now."

Chakotay looked at him, unimpressed.

Tom shrugged. "However you want. We'll be indoors, so temperature's no object."

* * *

Chakotay stepped into Holodeck 2 in casual civilian clothes. Not wanting to waste replicator rations on a new outfit, he'd simply pulled out his brown pants and patterned sweatshirt from his Maquis uniform. He left the boots, vest and weapons belt at home, instead wearing on his small black Starfleet boots. Tom's program was some kind of theater, an old one from the looks of it. Probably something from his 20th century fetish. At first Chakotay thought they were about to see a play, but there was no stage. Instead, the seats faced what looked like a…viewscreen?

"Chakotay!" Tom turned in his seat, holding a bag of popcorn. "You made it!"

Tom was dressed rather ludicrously, in old fashioned blue jeans, a white shirt, a black leather jacket, and dark glasses. He'd done something strange to his hair as well; it looked wet and shiny, and was curled into a shape over his forehead that resembled the rear end of a duck.

"Is Al Capone going to be joining us?" Chakotay asked, taking a seat next to Tom.

"_Al Capone_? Chakotay that's the _1920s_ you're talking about. This is the '50s…maybe early '60s."

"Guess my history's a little rusty."

"Well, it's not like you were ever interested in anything later than the extinction of the dinosaurs."

Chakotay gave him a look. "I'm into _some_ human history."

"That's right, you're an anthropologist. My mistake. Anything later than the invention of electricity."

Chakotay helped himself to some of the popcorn, as the theater went dark. They were alone, with the theater to themselves. Probably a good idea, given attitudes towards homosexuality in Earth's twentieth century.

"So we're watching a…motion picture?"

"Yep." Tom nodded. "I picked one I thought you'd like. You're still into dinosaurs, right?"

Chakotay nodded.

"How about cowboys?"

Chakotay looked at Tom, to see if he was joking.

"This," Tom pointed to the screen, "Is a breakthrough in special effects of the 1960s. It's called _The_ _Valley of Gwangi_." The scene opened, to the American Old West. "It's got a bit of a slow start, but it picks up after the cowboys meet the velociraptors. Or pterosaurs…you can probably identify the dinosaurs better than I can."

"…ah."

Chakotay found the first few scenes somewhat intriguing, from a historical standpoint anyway. When the protagonists were introduced to a tiny horse, the size of a cat, Chakotay had to marvel at how the film's artists had concocted the image without holo-technology. He and Tom sat in silence, engrossed in the film, until it became just a bit too ludicrous. It was probably when the cowboys encountered the Ornithomimus in the desert, and chased it through the canyons with lassos, exclaiming, "_Let's get it for our show_!"

"You think we'd do that, if we ran across a dinosaur here in the Delta Quadrant?" Tom asked humorously.

"It's been a pretty strange journey already," Chakotay sighed. "I'm not sure I'd be that surprised if we ran into a parasaurolophus or a stegosaurus before we got back to Earth."

"Y'know, Neelix and I had to take care of a little guy who reminded me of a dinosaur, when we were stranded on that planet."

"Was that the day you had that spaghetti incident in the mess hall?"

"Why does _everyone_ know about that? Yes, that was the spaghetti incident." Tom pinched up some popcorn. "Neelix thought I was trying to take Kes from him. The thought hadn't even occurred to me. I'm a little attracted to her, but trying to steal another guy's girl, that's too low even for me. Lie about a piloting error, betraying Starfleet, selling out my Maquis friends, sure. But not _that_."

"I can't tell if you're joking or not Paris."

"I swear, I'm always in the wrong place at the wrong time. I can't win."

"Oh?" Chakotay chuckled, half bitterly, and reached for some popcorn. "Poor Tom Paris. Black sheep of the family. At least _your_ dad's still alive."

"Aw," Tom dared a reach over to Chakotay's arm, and held it, rubbing sympathetically. "Don't hate me, Chakotay. You never were very good at holding grudges. You forgave Starfleet so quickly, you can forgive me, can't you?"

"I never said I forgave Starfleet." Chakotay said honestly. "I forgave Kathryn Janeway for being one of them, and holding it so dear to her. She runs the ship, I need her to accept my crew."

"Oooh," Tom leaned in on Chakotay's shoulder. "So you're not really her loyal Starfleet officer, it's just a ploy to hold her off till we get back to Earth. And you blame _her_ for using _you_ as a…face-saving Maquis puppet."

Chakotay looked down at Tom, but didn't pull away from him. "You heard about that?"

"I _heard_ that." Tom nuzzled against him. "I was standing about a yard away, behind the corner."

Chakotay was glad to be in such a serene mood; otherwise, Tom might've gone over the back of the seat. They cuddled for a few moments, their eyes fixed ahead at the screen, where a cowboy valiantly wrestled a pterodactyl into the ground.

"This isn't a real movie," Chakotay said inquisitively. "You just created it yourself, right? Combined your B-movie style with my paleontology obsession…?"

"Nope." Tom shook his head. "This is genuine. The Valley of Gwangi, 1969. Famous for pushing the limits of special effects, with stop-motion. They used a similar storyline in another movie later on—Jurassic Park. That one makes a bit more sense…but it's not as much fun. It's too good. And there aren't any cowboys." Tom popped some more popcorn into his mouth, laughing at the images on the screen. This pterodactyl-wrestling scene was _really_ dragging out.

Chakotay feared his next question might give Tom the wrong idea. So he moved his hand over and closed it over Tom's, before saying anything. He felt Tom's pose change next to him, and the younger man squeezed back.

"Is that why you chose me to back-sass, rather than B'Elanna or Neelix or the Doctor? Or Tuvok? You had a lot of enemies to pick from."

"I discussed it with the Captain and Tuvok. Since Tuvok was _in_ on the whole plot, having me pick on him would call for him to _act_. Not something Vulcans are very good at. Besides, we needed someone who'd give me a reaction that the rest of the ship could see. The traitor had to see me get in trouble, so he'd believe I wanted to leave the ship. We talked about Neelix, using my crush on Kes as a conflict for us. But that might've just driven Neelix and Kes off the ship, since they weren't from the Alpha Quadrant anyway." Tom sighed. "B'Elanna's reaction would've been too strong. It just had to be you by default. You drew short."

"You put up a pretty convincing act." Chakotay said in an expressionless voice. "Though maybe that's not saying much, coming from me. I was duped by Seska and Tuvok. And Michael Jonas."

Jonas, the traitor who Tom had gone undercover to catch, had been one of Chakotay's former Maquis.

"And Suder," Tom added. "Though from what B'Elanna and some of the other Maquis told me, you already knew he was crackers, so he doesn't count."

Chakotay kept his voice light, but didn't smile. "So on a scale of one to ten, about how gullible was I?"

"Well, let's see…with one being a human lie detector who can't be fooled, and ten being as dumb as a gorn…I would say...four. No one else knew Seska, Tuvok or me were faking it. You're only problem is you're too trusting with people, for a command officer."

"I must really have given you a scare today, to earn this flattery."

"I'm serious, Chakotay. Look, Tuvok's a Vulcan. _No one _can tell what's going through _his_ head. I sure didn't see it coming when he went behind the Captain's back to perform that mind-meld with Suder…and then went absolutely ax-psycho from it…I didn't know he was working for Starfleet either, until Captain Janeway pulled me out of prison and told me. And then that time he was possessed by an alien, and put you and Kes in comas…the Lieutenant is one disturbed Vulcan, I can tell you that much. I never know what he's gonna do next."

"Tuvok didn't know Seska was a Cardassian." Chakotay reminded himself.

"Seska, she lied about being a Cardassian. But she wasn't lying about you and her. I talked with her when I was aboard that Kazon ship, Chakotay. She's still all over you. She's excited to be having your child. And she still _hates_ me."

Chakotay remembered the animosity Seska treated Tom with, after Chakotay had ended his relationship with her, and then mysteriously began spending more time alone with the new helmsman. She'd even warned Chakotay over and over, that his new "friend" was a mercenary with no scruples, who'd likely betray the Maquis. Seska had always been such a jealous person that Chakotay had paid her comments no mind at the time.

"Did Seska say anything to you Tom, about us?"

"No, not directly. Our conversation was pretty short. She just said she never trusted me, and that you and her didn't see 'eye to eye.'"

Chakotay stared at the screen, tensed.

"My point is, Seska convinced you because part of it was real. She was a method actor. I decided that was what made her performance so good, so I took a leaf out of her book, and did some method acting of my own."

It took Chakotay a minute to register what Tom was telling him. "You harassed me for your 'act' because you really _were_ angry with me."

"That's right. I hated you. Still do, a little bit."

"For?"

Tom shrugged. "Being everything I'm not. Being a hero. Always doing what's right. Only being on the run from Starfleet because you did what you thought was right, not because you were a coward. Having a dad you like enough to get a tattoo for. Having beautiful spies throw themselves at you. Not wanting _me_ anymore."

"You think Seska's beautiful? You can have her."

"In her Bajoran form, I mean."

Chakotay let Tom press himself against him. Their hands were still entwined.

"Tom I wasn't always like that, I've told you that."

It was what had drawn Chakotay to Tom in the first place. Tom, about a decade younger than himself, reminded Chakotay of himself at Tom's age. Tom had left Starfleet to join the Maquis much for the same reasons Chakotay himself had left his tribe to join Starfleet. They were both malcontents at home, black sheep, suffocating under their parents' wings, who couldn't wait to get away. And sure, Tom's looks helped as well. Seska notwithstanding, Chakotay had always been partial to blue eyes.

"I probably could've pulled off some good 'method acting' myself, if the Captain had let me in on your plan." Chakotay said.

"The captain didn't want you to know anything about the traitor until we were absolutely sure." Tom locked eyes with Chakotay. "She did it _for_ you, Chakotay. You'd already been betrayed by Tuvok, Seska and me, she didn't want to dump the bad news on you until," he squinted at Chakotay. "After the cat-mouse game Seska played with you the first time, and got you captured, none of us wanted you up against her again."

"I'm Janeway's _first officer_ for god's sake, not some child she's in charge of!"

"You're her first officer, who Seska is _personally obsessed_ with. And with her carrying your child, we didn't wanna think about what she could do to manipulate you _this_ time. We all agreed to keep you off her radar. Look Chakotay, none of us saw you as some invalid that needed supervising. You're…this ship needs you." Chakotay scoffed. "If Seska lured you into another death trap and you didn't come back, who'd take your place? _Tuvok_. The guy who all the Maquis onboard hate. A guy who can't understand the emotions of most of his crew. You're the glue that holds this ship together Chakotay. Tuvok and I were reasonable risks. You weren't."

"Nice speech, Paris. All the captain and Tuvok said was that they didn't want put me in the awkward position of setting a trap for one of my former soldiers."

Tom's voice grew quieter, and he leaned closer to Chakotay. "The Captain and Tuvok have only the best intentions…but it does seem like they have their ears and bun on too tight a lot of the time."

Tom moved around in his seat, so he could wrap both arms around Chakotay's waist. Chakotay gave in, and wrapped a strong arm around Tom protectively.

Mumbling, his voice muffled by Chakotay's shirt, Tom said, "Guess the big difference between me and you is, you're always getting betrayed by people, but I'm always _doing_ the…letting down."

Chakotay opened his mouth, but nothing came out. So he just put his chin over Tom's head, and held him tightly.

"You've done a _few_ things right Tom. You saved me on Ocampa. You've been looking out for Harry. Letting Neelix keep Kes." He brought his other hand up, to cup the back of Tom's head. "You did a noble thing, letting everyone hate you. Letting me think I was the noble one. To catch Jonas."

"Wish I could've knocked him into the warp core, but Neelix got there first."

"You'd've had to get in line behind me." Chakotay muttered.

"Mmm."

The theater was silent, save the roar of the angry T-rex on the screen (as it totaled Mexico City). Tom and Chakotay snaked their arms around each other, running their fingers through each others' hair.

"Chakotay, can I ask you a personal question?"

"You can ask. I may not answer."

"When Seska has the baby, what're you gonna do?"

Chakotay's voice was flat and cold. "What should I do? It's her baby. I'm nothing but the sperm donor."

"_Chakotay_, you can't mean that."

"I _have_ to mean it, Paris. What're we going to do, steal the baby from a Kazon ship? Raise him on Voyager, with a crew that hates Cardassians?"

"No one's gonna blame a kid!" Tom pulled away, looking at Chakotay. "Besides, he won't be alone. Sam Wildman's having a baby, and she's pretty sure it'll be a boy. Though it's hard to tell with Ktarian physiology."

Chakotay breathed deeply, loudly. He swallowed, and then said, "What about _your_ children, Tom? You and the captain didn't seem to have a problem leaving them behind."

Tom closed his mouth and looked down. "Guess I don't really think of them as…mine. They're not even the same species…they've got the intelligence of dogs at best…I remember being a salamander, Chakotay. And so does the Captain. We weren't very…human. But your son or daughter will be, at least partially."

Unfortunately, Tom was right. The situations weren't comparable. Tom and Janeway's "children" would never care about being left behind by their parents, and didn't need looking out for. They were animals that ran on instinct. The baby Seska was carrying on the other hand might have Chakotay's eyes, hair, sense of curiosity…

Clenching his jaw, Chakotay said, "I don't want to think about it right now." He turned away from Tom. "It's a bridge I'll cross when I come to it."

"Well if you did decide to get the baby, I just want you to know that he'll have at least one uncle Tom who'll look out for him."

It was a whole can of worms Chakotay just didn't want to open. How they'd retrieve his son from Seska, how they'd arrange for the child to see both parents with Voyager moving away from Kazon space…unless they somehow captured Seska and held her in the brig for her treason…how she'd react to Tom Paris not only having stolen Chakotay from her, but also being involved with her child…

Tom must've sensed Chakotay's discontent. He put a hand on Chakotay's cheek, and said, "Hey, just for old time's sake."

Chakotay allowed Tom to pull him into a long kiss. It had been far too long.

After they broke apart, Tom whispered, "Hey, I was supposed to get you dinner, wasn't I."

"You've done enough for me tonight Tom. Let's have it in my quarters."

* * *

**A/N: I apologize for all of the graphic, hard-core cuddling. But this is a site for grownups after all. **


End file.
